


The Road is Long

by eri_quin



Category: MCSM, Minecraft (Video Game), Minecraft Story Mode
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-28
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2018-05-26 13:54:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6242026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eri_quin/pseuds/eri_quin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jesse hadn't been looking to be a hero, but now was her time to save the world, and she's just wondering when she and her friends became people who mattered and weren't losers. She also wondered why Lukas was weird around her, why Axel was acting differently, and why the men of the Order were such kicked puppies, while she was at it.</p>
<p>Uses fem!Jesse of the gameplay, and reverse!harem possibility.<br/>Warnings: Age difference, poly relationship ("triangles" for a while though), possible sexual situations, dark/perverted/silly humor present...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cast

**Order of the Stone:**

  
**Soren: Michael Cudlitz (as Abraham from Walking Dead)**

  
**Ivor: Colin O'Donoghue (as Hook from Once Upon a Time)**

  
**Ellegard: Hayley Atwell (as Agent Carter from Marvel)**

**Magnus: Mark Strong**

  
**Gabriel: Idris Elba**

 

**Jesse's Group:**

**Jesse: Willa Holland**

  
  
Axel: Stan Yanevski

  
**Olivia: Candice Patton**

  
**Lukas: Freddie Stroma**

**Petra: Emma Stone**  


 

 

 

 


	2. Kick Start My Heart

"Jesse Lucasta –Leader of –"

The pretty ravenette standing by the treehouse's window made an aggravated noise and threw up her hands. She had been trying to work out a name for the group, so that she and her two best friends Axel and Olivia would be ready to take on Endercon together. Unfortunately, nothing was coming to her and her imagination was drying up.

"Oink oink!"

She looked at her pet pig, who was giving her a look. "I know, Reuben. I'm _trying_ to think up something."

"Speaking of," Axel came into the treehouse with Olivia coming up behind him. "What should we make? A Zombie, Creeper, chickens?"

Jesse gave him a weird look. "Chickens?"

Olivia grinned at her. "We were debating on our way back here on whether it would be better to fight against chicken-sized Zombies, or Zombie-sized chickens."

"I choose neither," Jesse declared blandly before giving her friends a teasing grin. "Or chickens, I guess. Zombie-sized chickens just mean more meat to be cooked."

"Haha, Jesse," Olivia rolled her eyes, though Axel burst into genuine laughter. Both girls traded amused looks over their male friend. "So…?"

"Let's do an Ender Dragon," Jesse grinned widely at them. "It'll be awesome!"

"Then you'll love this," Axel told her and went back out before coming back in with a small Ender Dragon costume. "I made it for Reuben!"

He put it on the pig, who made a few noises and posed. Olivia giggled, while Jesse clapped in delight.

"That's amazing, Axel! Great job!" she told him sincerely and he shrugged as he grinned back at her.

His face turned a little red, but Jesse missed his reaction as she cooed over her costumed pig. He looked over at Olivia, who gave him a knowing look. He just huffed at her.

"Alright, guys! Let's grab last minute stuff and head out of here, so we can get to Endercon already, 'kay?" Jesse turned back to her friends.

They agreed and they double-checked their treehouse before checking with each other and deciding they had everything from there. Then they got out of there and went around the area around their home, grabbing other materials they could use for their build. Afterwards, they started making their walk towards the convention.

As they continued their walk, Reuben ran ahead of them, pretending to be the Ender Dragon he was dressed up as. Jesse smiled, though she got an idea then.

"You know…Why don't we call ourselves The Order of the Pig?"

Her friends laughed and grabbed one of her arms each.

"Sure!" Axel kept laughing.

"Why not?" Olivia shook her head.

Jesse cheered at the same time as Reuben made happy noises.

"Then it's settled! We're The Order of the Pig!"

It may not be the cool name she'd wanted to come up with, but it was a name that was dedicated to the best and most awesome pig ever.

* * *

At the entrance to Endercon, they looked on in awe around them. Their excitement built up even more, and they were eager to get inside.

"Hey, move out of the way!"

They frowned and looked to see who shouted at them, and found a group of three that wore matching leather jackets with a really cool design on the back. The one who seemed to have spoken to them was a handsome young man with green eyes and brown hair, but a haughty look on his face that was accompanied with an ugly sneer.

"No need to be rude," Olivia snapped back, but they did move to the side for the leather-clad trio.

The leathered trio moved passed them, with the only female of the group sneering at them and saying, "Nice pig."

Jesse straightened up and stood protectively and proudly next to Reuben, glaring them passed.

"What a load of jerks!" Axel exclaimed.

"Who spat in their coffee this morning?" Olivia tacked on, watching the group still.

"Who cares?" Jesse said hotly. "Let's just get into the convention and get registered for the Building Competition."

"Yeah! You're totally right," Axel agreed with her immediately and Jesse began to lead the way.

Olivia sidled up to Axel's side, elbowing him slightly. "Obvious much?" she muttered to him, while Jesse was distracted with leading.

Axel's cheeks turned pink. "I don't have any idea what you're talking about."

Olivia smirked. "Oh, I bet you do, Mister Obvious. You should just tell her."

"No way!" Axel hissed at her in alarm, glancing worriedly at Jesse, whom thankfully was still distracted. "Stop talking about it, will you? She might hear you."

The dark-skinned girl sighed. "Fine, fine. I'm just telling you, Axel. You should get a move on it, or else you'll miss your chance. Who knows? Someone else might snatch her up."

That put a very obvious glower on Axel's face that Olivia shook her head at.

"Boys," she muttered, before moving up faster to reach Jesse's side.

It wasn't long until they entered the convention and they reached a large sectioned off area, which had the Building Competition registration desk in front of it. They saw the leather jacketed trio there registering, but a fourth member seemed to have joined them. He was blond and blue-eyed and the handsomest of the group. It wasn't until they were nearer that they heard one of the others address him as "Lukas."

"Oh, you guys are here," the female saw them first. She scoffed. "What are you guys doing here? Don't tell me you're actually going to sign up and compete!"

"Yeah, we are!" Axel said hotly. "We're The Order of the Pig and we're going to win this year!"

A round of laughter came from them, though Jesse noted the blond was frowning at his group instead.

"More like The Order of the _Losers_ ," the brunet from earlier laughed at them loudly. "We're The Ocelots, the ones who really will win the competition!"

"Cut it out, Aiden," Lukas finally spoke, and Jesse's irritated eyes were drawn to him. Her face grew a little hot, but she ignored it in favor of her irritation and wanting to sock each one of them in the face. "We have to keep going."

The group reluctantly left Jesse's group, with Lukas leading them. Olivia declared she was going to register them, looking angry as she stomped up to the person in charge of that. Axel turned to Jesse with a scowl.

"We're not going to worry about them, Jesse. We've got brains, beauty, and brawn, triple time!" he winked at her and she smiled a little at that.

"I don't know, Axel. Olivia and I might be missing the brawn factor," Jesse said dryly.

"Nah –I've seen Olivia when she's angry. She can throw a desk at a person's head! And no offense, Jesse, but you've got super human strength too, when you get angry…It's kind of scary…"

"Maybe it's a female thing," Jesse said in amusement, raising her eyebrows slightly.

"What's a female thing?" Olivia came back to them, looking much more cooled down.

Jesse repeated what she and Axel had been talking about, and Olivia was back to smiling again too.

"Nice point. Maybe it is," Olivia snickered. "Anyway, we have to head inside and get to our spot. They're starting soon!"

They agreed to head into the competition area, where they were directed to a spot. Unfortunately it was next to The Ocelots' booth.

"Ugh, can't we be free of them for once?" Axel grumbled.

"Just ignore them, guys," Jesse told them, resolved to do that herself.

They settled into their spot and started getting ready, though it wasn't long until the rival team noticed them. Aiden strode up to them first.

"I see you guys actually went through with entering," he looked at them skeptically.

"Of course we did," Axel stood in front of the girls protectively. Jesse and Olivia traded exasperated looks, but allowed their friend to do so.

Aiden laughed at them. "I doubt you guys will be any good. You guys scream rank amateurs!"

"Shows what you know!" Olivia snapped back, crossing her arms in front of her chest defensively. "We're going to win this competition, and then you'll have to eat your words!"

Aiden had a menacing grin on his face as he took a step forward, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Aiden, stop wasting your time," Lukas said firmly, having appeared by them then. "We have to focus on our build and get on it."

Just then, another female with fiery-colored red hair, covered by a bandanna, came near and was holding something.

"Lukas! I've got that Nether Star you asked for," she said and held up said Nether Star, which surprised Jesse and made her look at it in awe.

Lukas accepted it and gave it to Aiden, ordering him back to their group to add that in. Lukas then turned back to Jesse and smiled awkwardly, which made Jesse blush slightly. Axel saw and frowned a bit, glancing between the two.

"Um, this is Petra. She's great at getting stuff," Lukas told her hesitantly. Then he turned to Petra. "Thanks, Petra. We really needed that Nether Star. These are…"

"I'm Jesse," Jesse smiled friendly at the other girl. "This is Olivia and Axel, and this is Reuben. Our group name for the competition is The Order of the Pig."

Petra's lips twitched up and she reached down and pet a pleased Reuben. "Cute name. See you guys then! And good luck to both of you."

She left and then it was just Lukas still with them.

"Don't you have somewhere to be," Axel said rudely, glaring at the blond male.

Jesse was shocked at her friend's behavior, but before she could say anything, Lukas coughed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Yeah, you're right. Um, see you guys later."

When they were left to themselves, Jesse rounded on Axel and gave him a surprised and disappointed look.

"What was that about, Axel? I know his team are jerks, but he hasn't really acted like that towards us and even stopped his team. Besides, we shouldn't be stooping down to their level."

Axel's face became slightly mulish. "Yeah, well we don't know what he and his friends are saying about us behind our backs."

"And that's behind our backs and none of our business," Jesse put her foot down. "They can be that way and act however they like, because it's none of our concern and we should focus on our own build. If they want to act up, then let them. We won't be like them."

"Yeah," Olivia agreed. "If we're going to win over them, then we do it by proving them wrong and winning for real in this competition."

Axel deflated and nodded. "Yeah, you guys are right. Let's focus."

Jesse smiled brightly at him, though her emerald eyes did briefly look over at The Ocelots, specifically at the blond leader.

* * *

Aiden was laughing as he was fixing the Nether Star into the rainbow beacon they were building.

"Can you believe those three? They actually think they can win against us! Gill, hold that still for a moment," the brunet directed towards his bearded friend. He continued talking as he fixed the Nether Star more securely in place. "I mean come on! We've won this competition several years in a row! There's no way we'd lose."

"Well, better safe than sorry, so we should be focusing on this and not on other teams," Lukas cut in, frowning at him.

Honestly, he expected his team to be better than this. He had no idea what had gotten into them and why they wanted to pick a fight with the other team, who seemed new to the competition. He'd certainly never seen them before, in the years he'd competed with The Ocelots.

The dark-skinned girl with the green hat and goggles seemed very sharp and observant, while their big male friend was definitely protective of them. But the other girl…

Between Olivia, Axel, and her…Lukas couldn't help watching Jesse closely. He'd been fortunate enough that she'd introduced herself and the others to Petra, and that he'd been there at the same time, because he wasn't sure she would have given her name to him otherwise.

He remembered seeing the dark-haired, emerald-eyed girl at the registration desk, and had been hopeful for trying to get a reason to talk to her (he didn't know why, but he just felt the urge to talk to this girl). Only, to his dismay, he realized that his team had been trying to fight with her group.

"Aw, Lukas," Maya grinned at him. "We're just having a bit of fun."

"Yeah," Gill tacked on. "They're newbies. It's like a…rite of passage or something."

"And you heard them," Aiden rolled his eyes. "They think they can win. We're just setting them right."

Lukas refrained from sighing. "Let's just get our beacon done, alright guys?"

The four of them cheered and they did their handshake, to which Lukas started to smile again a bit. At the moment, he should just focus on winning with his team. And then afterwards, he could talk to Jesse, maybe offer his condolences on losing, and then they could try to hang out a bit…

When they finally finished, Lukas looked at their creation proudly. It was definitely going to catch attention and he had no doubt they'd win –

"Woah," he heard Maya say, and he looked over to her and saw that she, along with Aiden and Gill, were looking behind him.

When Lukas looked to see what had caught their attention, he felt his own jaw drop. While it probably wasn't as large as the real thing, it was still pretty large and it was built impressively. In fact, he admitted it looked a hell of an awesome thing.

In record time, Jesse's group had managed to make a replica of the Ender Dragon, complete with gleaming red eyes (was that redstone they used?) and obsidian to make the build of the body. Its sharp teeth had to have been made by diamonds.

"Where'd they get all that obsidian?" Gill asked jealously.

"I want to know about the diamonds!" Aiden exclaimed.

Lukas wanted to know too, and now wasn't so sure about his and his team's chances at winning.

* * *

Aiden fumed at the same time as he admired the other team's build. It looked freaking awesome. He started feeling worry too, more so as he noted that even the judges that were walking around and taking notes were obviously admiring it as well. What if their rainbow beacon wasn't enough to win? He and his team always won! They'd been brought together to build and stuck together through their wins. If they lost…

They'd never lost before. What would happen if they'd lost?

But obsidian and diamonds…where did they get all that? He felt his teeth grinding and he glared at the other team, even at the emerald-eyed girl he'd noted as being really pretty. Even if it wasn't as big as the real Ender Dragon, it was still bigger than him or any of his team. Bigger than them put together.

"Time to start finishing up your builds and get ready to show them off, if they're completed," the announcer told them, and he watched the other team closely as he looked back at his team's rainbow beacon.

Frowning deeply, Aiden caught sight of the team right next to that girl's booth, and of which had an obvious lava display as part of their build. He bit his lip and looked at his team. Then he made the decision to subtly walk over, and when he spotted an opportunity…He pretended to stumble onto a block holding back the lava that would have kept the other's team's lava build from spilling over to the next booth, and consequently the emerald-eyed girl's build.

Bits of the lava splashed up and he panicked, moving to avoid it and falling on his behind on the floor. Some of it got onto the girl's pig's costume, and it squealed and started to run away. He heard the girl yell at her pig anxiously.

"Oh no! Reuben!"

He felt slightly bad about it, but there was no way they'd win now, with their build about to be destroyed. But he watched in dismay as the girl talked to her team, and then she was getting off of their build and running in the direction of her pig. His dismay upped when he saw her friends begin working hard and quickly to stop the lava from reaching their creation, and ending up succeeding.

And when they moved a lever, he watched in even more envy as the Ender Dragon's mouth moved and then fireworks began shooting out of it and into the sky.

"Damn," he muttered to himself.

* * *

Jesse ran after Reuben as fast as she could, but he was fast and he already had a huge head start on her. They were some ways away from the building competition now, and as she looked around, she saw it was getting really dark. Worried, she ran across a cave that she made the decision to go into and ended up heading through it and to the other side.

To that end, she still saw no sign of Reuben until she found hoof prints. She found a carrot that she thought Reuben might like to eat, and kept walking until she found Reuben's smoking costume. Luckily, he wasn't in it and she put out the smoke. Going on, she saw some pink hidden behind some tall grass.

"Reuben, that you?" she whispered.

"Oink!" Reuben peeked his head out of the grass and saw her, and ran happily to her when he saw it was Jesse.

"I'm so happy to see you," she said worriedly, and held out the carrot. Reuben munched on it. "Don't worry me like that! I was really scared about you, you know?"

"Oink oink," Reuben said while nudging his nose against her hand.

She gave him a small smile. "Good boy. Now let's get out of here."

Just then Zombies appeared and started to come towards their direction.

"Oh crap!" Jesse gasped and led the way away from there. She and Reuben made it to the tall grass on the other side and thought they were free, until Creepers swarmed towards them and they had to flee again. They also fled from the Skeletons that shot arrows at them, before they were back against a wall and were cornered by them all.

"Reuben," Jesse said determinedly, even though she was really scared. "I want you to run back to Endercon! Be safe, alright? I'll distract them!"

"Oink…" Reuben looked at her hesitantly.

"No, Reuben! You have to go! Go!" she repeated and Reuben made a dash passed the creatures closing in.

As he left, Jesse took out her wooden sword and began to attack the hostile mob, doing her best to keep their attention on her. However, just as Reuben was safe and out of distance, her wooden sword broke and Jesse yelped, now unarmed and in danger of being overwhelmed.

Just then, a huge spider landed on top of her and she screamed, attempting to get it off of her. She struggled to get it off, while all around her those things were closing in. However, out of nowhere, the spider was thrown off of her and she saw a hand in front of her face. She quickly grabbed it and was pulled up, and she then looked to see the owner of it. She gasped loudly.

Of all the people to run into, the one who saved her was Gabriel the Warrior, of The Order of the Stone!

Started 2/15/16 – Completed 2/26/16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, I feel strange about writing and uploading a Minecraft story. Never thought I would…Anyway, obviously this is going to be based off of the playthrough, but probably not completely going by it, as you can see by the changes in here. It'll be pretty boring if I just copy the game completely, right? My only familiarity with Minecraft is with Story Mode, but I still hope everyone enjoyed this first chapter and please remember to review!
> 
> Quick Points:
> 
> 1\. Obsidian and diamond: Obviously, they didn't use diamonds XD Obsidian though, I'm debating about…
> 
> 2\. Actors/Actresses:
> 
> Order of the Stone:  
> Soren: Michael Cudlitz (as Abraham from Walking Dead)  
> Ivor: Colin O'Donoghue (as Hook from Once Upon a Time)  
> Ellegard: Hayley Atwell (as Agent Carter from Marvel)  
> Magnus: Mark Strong  
> Gabriel: Idris Elba
> 
> Jesse's Group:  
> Jesse: Willa Holland  
> Axel: Stan Yanevski  
> Olivia: Candice Patton  
> Lukas: Freddie Stroma  
> Petra: Emma Stone
> 
> 3\. I miss Reuben.


	3. Headed For the Castle

"Are you alright?"

Jesse, still a bit dazed from the combination of being attacked and then somehow meeting Gabriel the Warrior, could only nod weakly. She couldn't help noting that his voice was deep and strong, which was rather suiting for him, in her opinion.

She mentally shook her head, focusing on the fact that they were still surrounded, and only one of them had a weapon. Then again, given who it was…

"Follow me, alright? I'll lead the way away from them all."

She gave him a stronger nod, looking determined to not be a burden. As soon as he began to move, cutting down the creatures in their way, she made sure to stick close and follow him as he made a path through the mob and got them away safely.

He was amazing, and she couldn't believe she was able to see him at work like this and be saved by him.

When they were far enough away, he turned to her. "I'm Gabriel, though you might probably already know me," he gave her a reserved grin.

She didn't let herself be shy or intimidated, and gave a wide, friendly grin (though admittedly, she was kind of…embarrassingly fangirling on the inside, even if Soren had been her favorite of the Order; besides, Gabriel was a close second).

"I'm Jesse! I _do_ know who you are, but I'm more appreciative of the fact that you saved me," she ended on a wry note, placing her hand on the back of her neck and her grin became a little shier. "Thank you so much."

His reserved grin softened slightly. "You are welcome, and please call me Gabriel. There was no way I would have just let you be attacked like that. What were you doing all alone out here though?"

Jesse refrained from grimacing. "There was an incident at the Building Competition, which upset my best friend and who ran away all the way out here."

"I see. Where is he now?" though Gabriel had a frown on his face.

"I told Reuben to run back to Endercon, while I created a distraction," she told the famous man. "I had a wooden sword I was using earlier, but unfortunately it broke not long after I had Reuben run away. Thankfully you came along though."

"I'm glad to be of service," he told her sincerely, and she couldn't help the flush her face took on. Geez, and he was so chivalrous too. That wasn't something that was common much these days, and she could definitely appreciate it. "Come, I'll lead the way back."

Though she did come a little closer and followed his lead, she couldn't help being a little curious herself.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but I was wondering why you were out here yourself?" she asked hesitantly.

"Ah yes. I don't mind. The truth is that I decided to take a walk and hopefully clear my head and prepare for my appearance at the convention," Gabriel smiled slightly. "Slay an Ender Dragon, fine. Go talking in front of a large audience? I'll need some time to prep and hopefully give myself a pep talk!"

Jesse laughed at that, taken aback by how easy it was to relax and be comfortable in front of such a legendary person.

"Really? I've always thought you were so brave that nothing would scare you," Jesse told him.

Gabriel looked hesitant for a moment, before he gave her an uneasy look. "Everyone has their fears. It just depends on what it is."

"So what's yours?" Jesse asked, before she realized how personal that was. "Not that you have to answer that!"

But Gabriel only gave her a smile that seemed a little off, though Jesse dismissed that as something she imagined.

"My fear? I have yet to find it. I'm sure I'll find one though," the two of them shared a quiet laugh at that.

By that time, they'd reached a large bridge made of stone and bricks looked pretty sturdy. The two of them were just crossing it when on either side of them and heading to crowd them in on the bridge, more hostile mobs came to get them.

Jesse gave a frustrated sound, gritting her teeth at this new turn of events for her. She didn't even have a stupid weapon to fight back with!

"Ugh, I'm so sorry," she apologized to Gabriel as they looked on to either side of them at the incoming mobs. "I got you dragged into this, and I don't even have a weapon to help out!"

Gabriel shook his head. "There's no need to apologize. Like I said before, I wasn't about to just let you be attacked and left to fend on your own. As for a weapon, you told me yours broke. That can't be helped. Now hold on and don't let go!"

He grabbed onto her and brought her closer to him, holding her tightly against him to the point where she could feel the curved slopes of his muscles against her. And then he was leaping off the bridge with her, and they headed into the water. Jesse barely had time to scream and had ended up closing her eyes in midair. From that point, she could feel water engulf her and pull her under with Gabriel, before they resurfaced.

She looked up at Gabriel, who smiled gently down at her. Her heart skipped a beat for a moment.

"Don't worry. We can head back to Endercon from here."

* * *

It was…perhaps one of the strangest encounters he'd had in his life. Not because of the girl, Jesse, but because of where he'd met her, what happened as he met her, and the continuous attacks on them during their first meeting.

It was actually nice and comfortable talking and being around her though (even if he'd gotten a little upset and disappointed in this friend of hers that left her). He hadn't expected that. To be honest, he was expecting more of a "fan" reaction. And though he wasn't completely sure she wasn't a fan, he was glad that she hadn't acted crazy around him and acted normally.

It wasn't long until they were back to the convention, still a bit wet from their jump and subsequent ride from the water. They split up then, he back to his dressing room to prepare, and she to her friends. He was actually feeling a little disappointed at the separation, but he quickly shook it off to focus himself.

In the comfort of his dressing room, he took off his armor to let it dry and took off the clothes he had underneath and changed them to dry ones. He spotted his amulet next to the vanity, and picked it up and held it to his face.

He frowned solemnly, inwardly sighing.

Gabriel missed the others. Magnus, Ellegard, Soren…He missed the old days where they were together and were young and carefree, traveling the lands and trying to make a name for themselves.

He even missed Ivor, back before the whole Ender Dragon and he had been one of them.

"Time passes," he murmured. "Memories are supposed to fade."

It didn't seem to be the case for him.

* * *

"Congratulations, guys!" Jesse exclaimed, also sort of still on a high from meeting Gabriel and the little adventure they had (and also still very wet at that).

Axel brought her and Olivia into a huge group hug. "You built it with us, you knucklehead! Give yourself credit too."

Olivia snickered. "You act like you didn't do anything with us."

Jesse blushed. "I did leave you guys though…"

"Because Reuben was scared and ran away, and could've been hurt," Axel said in exasperation. "We're not going to blame you for that, especially since you did give the idea for our project and helped out first. And Reuben's important and one of us! So don't you dare feel all guilty!"

Jesse beamed at her friends. "You guys are the best! But I still have to find Reuben…I had him run away to back here when we were cornered by a whole bunch of creatures."

"What?!" her friends gave her wide-eyed looks.

"You didn't say anything about that!" Axel shouted, looking worried.

She gave them a reassuring look. "I'm here and I'm fine. I just need to make sure Reuben is too."

"How'd you manage to get away?" Olivia asked, though she looked at Jesse and noted something else. "Especially since it looks like you don't have your wooden sword anymore!"

Jesse gave a nervous chuckle. "You won't believe what happened. See, I was fighting them off and was doing alright, right up until my wooden sword broke…A huge spider jumped on me and I thought I was a goner!"

"What happened?" Axel's anxiety level was definitely going higher the more Jesse talked, even though she was right in front of him now.

" _Gabriel_ happened," Jesse suddenly looked awed.

"Gabriel?" Olivia asked, while Axel hid his jealous look. Yeah, Gabriel who?

Jesse let out an exasperated sigh. "Gabriel the Warrior, guys!"

"No way!" Axel's jealousy was forgotten as he looked at Jesse in awe himself.

Olivia looked shocked. "Really? Wow! How'd that happen?"

So Jesse explained to them what happened and what was talked about between her and the famous man, all the way up to them getting back to Endercon. Both of her friends were shaking their heads.

"Lucky you," Axel was definitely stuck in awe.

Olivia laughed. "Man, it is always her luck, isn't it?"

"Aw, guys," Jesse laughed with them. "Let's look for Reuben and split up, okay?"

"Okay!"

Still, at least her friends got to meet Gabriel soon too, since their team managed the win in the competition. That was good news and it relieved her that her having left them hadn't ruined their chances.

She watched them leave her and then was going to go in another direction, before a familiar girl came towards her anxiously.

"Uh, Petra, right?" Jesse hesitantly recalled.

Petra gave her a strained smile. "And you're Jesse. Can I ask a favor?"

Jesse blinked, caught off guard. "Um, yeah! Sure." Reuben was smart and wouldn't need her right away. He hated it when Jesse hovered over him too much (though she bet the independent pig was just making a fuss and really enjoyed it).

Petra relaxed slightly. "I'm meeting with a customer. He's a bit…shady. I need someone to have my back while I make the trade, just in case. You up for it?"

"Yeah, I am," Jesse told her. "Why me though? We just met."

"Lukas is a bit of a coward," Petra sighed. "And he's the only one I know well enough. You, though I just met, was introduced by Lukas and you seem a pretty hardy person. Plus, I saw you earlier in the forest and you were doing well against those creatures, until your sword broke. I got one you can use though," Petra handed her a stone sword. "I was going to step in, but lucky you were saved by Gabriel."

Ah, that's a little embarrassing. Jesse personally didn't think she'd fought all that great, but her help was needed, so she was going to do her best to give it.

"I'm trading with him in an alley around here, so keep close," Petra warned her.

"Can I ask what you're trading?" Jesse asked in curiosity.

Petra took out something and Jesse gasped when she saw what it was.

"It's a Wither Skull. He wants it and I'll get a diamond in return," Petra told her, though Jesse wasn't too sure about the deal. Still, a diamond would be a great trade…Not that that Wither Skull was anything to sniff at.

A few minutes later, they were in the alley. It was empty though, and had no sign anyone was there or had been there.

"He's late," Petra noted, growing a little irritable.

"What's he look like?" Jesse asked, not knowing who they were supposed to look for anyway.

"Long hair and beard, dark colored just like his eyes…he's also pretty pale," Petra tried to recall as many details as possible. "Tall too. I should probably check some other alleys nearby, just in case he mistook one of them for our meeting. Stay here?"

"Sure," Jesse agreed and was then left alone.

"You are not the girl I was to meet with," a voice suddenly said near her and she jumped, only for whoever it was to uncomfortably stick his face right up to hers, curiously examining her. She stood stock still, while he watched her closely.

She faced the man with Petra's description and nervously stood in front of him, trying not to show how unnerved she was by his proximity. "Um, no I'm not. Petra went to see if you were in any of the other alleys just in case you went to them instead of here. She'll be back soon. Probably."

She really hoped so, because she found herself really nervous in the presence of this man who set her nerves alight and made the hair on her neck stand on end.

"You're here finally," she didn't let out how relieved she was at hearing Petra's voice, as she addressed the man near Jesse. She tried to not make it so obvious that she moved slightly farther away. "Jesse, this is Ivor, the man I'm making a trade with. Ivor, this is Jesse, my…partner."

"Here," the man held out a chest that Jesse guessed held the diamond.

"I've got the Wither Skull," Petra took it out, showing it. "The diamond's in the chest?"

"It is," Ivor confirmed and held it out to them. "The Skull?"

"Here," they traded both items at the same time.

Petra looked at the chest and started to open it, with Jesse eagerly peering in and wanting to see a real diamond. However, her jaw dropped when she saw what was actually inside. Petra snatched up the lapis lazuli.

"THAT JERK!"

Jesse couldn't believe they'd been scammed by that thief!

They looked around and saw the man was gone. Jesse's jaw dropped and thought how shameless this scoundrel was.

"Let's split up and look for him," Petra growled, looking around heatedly.

"Okay," Jesse agreed quickly, because Petra looked ready to tear someone's head off.

So they both went back to the convention and split up, and Jesse went searching around for Ivor. She was feeling disheartened the longer she spent looking and not being able to see him or even Petra. However, she heard a very familiar squeal and perked up.

"Reuben!"

She followed the direction of where she was hearing his 'oinking', only to find her poor Reuben being handled roughly by a butcher. Furious, she stormed up to him and held out the stone sword that Petra had given her at the butcher.

"You! Let go of my pet pig!" Jesse glared, jabbing the sword once towards the butcher.

Scared, the butcher let go of the pig and Reuben quickly scrambled to her side, hiding behind her legs.

"H-here! Don't hurt me!" the butcher threw something at her and she hurried to catch it and not be hit by it, which allowed the man to run away from her.

"Serves him right," Jesse grumbled, putting away the bow the butcher had thrown her (along with the stone sword), and then reached down to pick up Reuben, cuddling him close. "You alright?"

"Oink oink," Reuben pushed his snout against her.

"Okay, okay! I get it," she laughed.

"Looks like you found your pig," a surly voice said and she turned and saw Aiden, one of The Ocelots. He was frowning at her.

"Yeah, I did," she said shortly, eying him with distrust.

He shuffled slightly. "G-good," he huffed though, turning his nose up at them. "Wouldn't…wouldn't want him to have become food!"

Not knowing whether to be outraged or be confused why he sounded even the slightest bit relieved and worried, Jesse just gave him a bland look before turning on her heel to walk away.

"W-wait!" he stalled her and she exasperatedly waited for him to say what he needed to. "Con…congrats on your win. It looked really cool," he actually admitted to saying, making Jesse stare at him.

"T-thanks," she stumbled over her reply, still not sure how to take his compliment. "Um…see you around."

She ran away then, not sure if that had really happened.

* * *

Unfortunately, Jesse didn't find Ivor or Petra (though she did mistake a lady for Ivor when she saw her walking and how similar she was from the back to him). She was getting a little upset at how little success she was having, along with not having seen her friends for a while.

"Oink?"

"I don't know, Reuben," Jesse muttered, holding tightly to her pig. "I'm not having all that much fun here, which sucks since me and the others had been looking forward to attending for so long."

Reuben made a few noises of sympathy.

"You must really be attached to that pig."

Jesse looked up from the ground to see Lukas smiling hesitantly at her. She attempted to smile back, but she had a feeling it was as halfhearted as she felt.

"Reuben's my best friend," Jesse told him. "He's been with me practically forever. I found him one day by a waterfall and he's been with me since."

"That's a strong friendship," Lukas complimented them. "I can see why you went after him earlier and was so worried. Congratulations on winning by the way. You guys did great, and your build was fantastic. I mean…that Ender Dragon replica was no joke. I'm really impressed."

Jesse found herself blushing, giving the blonde a small smile. "Thanks a lot, Lukas. Um…your rainbow beacon was really impressive too. That took a lot of skill to make." She remembered seeing it lighting up the middle of Endercon from the entrance of the convention, while her team's Ender Dragon periodically made huge fireworks blast into the sky. Together it looked awesome.

"Thanks," he grinned easily at her.

"There you are!" the two of them heard and Jesse saw her two friends coming towards her. That had been Axel's voice. "I see you found Reuben."

"Yeah, I did. Had fun looking around –" she had been attempting to ask, when she caught sight of Ivor finally, and saw him running into the large hall that was going to hold the convention's special guest presentation with Gabriel. Without a word to the others, she shot off after the thief, determined to catch him before he got away again.

"Jesse?" she heard Olivia shout in shock.

"I have to go after that guy!" Jesse yelled behind her, still running.

She noted briefly that they were running after her (even Lukas), but she stayed focus and was about to run into the auditorium hall when at the gate, she was blocked by the usher.

"Ticket please," the usher said in boredom.

Frustrated, Jesse pointed passed him. "There's someone in there that I have to get! He stole something from a friend!"

"I'm sorry, but no ticket, no entry," the usher said without a change in tone.

She was about to push passed him when she felt Axel's hand grip her shoulder and hands on either side of her (a glimpse showed her Olivia was on her right and Lukas on her left) and helped drag her away.

"You guys –!"

"You're never going to get in there that way," Olivia said firmly.

"And what's this about something being stolen?" Axel asked.

Jesse sighed. "Petra wanted my help earlier and said she was going to trade something with this guy. He was going to trade a diamond with her. She asked me to back her up and I came with her, only for us to realize she'd gotten scammed in the end. The jerk gave her a lapis lazuli instead, and I've been trying to track him down since, and only caught him running into that hall a few moments ago. I need to get in there!"

"That guy's afraid of chickens," Lukas said out of nowhere. Jesse gave him an incredulous look, and he looked embarrassed.

"How'd you find that out?" Olivia blinked at him.

"My friends and I heard the vendor near him talk about it," Lukas explained. And he went on to explain why he brought it up. "There's that glass case machine full of chickens near him, the one he keeps glancing at terrified? Well, what if we somehow managed to break it and let the chickens loose near him? He'll freak out and leave his post and we can sneak in."

While Axel eyed him distrustfully and Olivia thoughtfully, Jesse gave him a huge grin.

"That's a great idea! But how do we break it?"

"A slime block," Olivia said immediately. "It's easy to make and will be just as easily used to break that glass if we can get one of us to jump on it and break the glass case. Plus, there's that lady selling slime right there."

Incidentally, the same lady Jesse mistook for Ivor.

Agreeing with that plan, they headed to the slime lady, but was only able to retrieve eight pieces of slime.

"We need one more," Axel grumbled.

"Wait, I think I have at least one," Lukas said and searched for it. Once he had it, he handed it over to Jesse, and they found a crafting block where Jesse quickly made a slime block.

Without further ado, she set it close the chicken machine and headed to a lower building near it. She climbed onto it, before jumping onto the slime block and towards the glass around the chicken farm, breaking it and letting the chickens loose. Like Lukas had said, many of the chickens came near the usher, who freaked out and ran away, and the small group hurried towards the gate and went in.

* * *

Lukas was really glad to have run into Jesse. He'd been worried when he hadn't seen her for a long time since she'd run after her pig (more so when he spotted her two friends, but not her). But he'd finally found her, and she had her pig too. They even had a nice talk together, before her two friends interrupted.

But then there was this whole thing about a thief and he was slightly confused until he got it when she explained, and was further glad to be of help in coming up with the plan and supplying the last piece of slime for her.

He just wasn't sure about following the strange guy that Jesse was determinedly following down some stairs and eventually to what looked like some secret room.

He watched as Jesse found a lever and revealed a chest that had three Wither Skulls and some Soul Sand, and a strange pattern on the wall behind them with glowing lights, making his jaw drop as he looked at those things in horror.

"Oh God…I think whoever he is was going to create a Wither and might even try to destroy the convention," Lukas told them seriously.

"We have to stop him!" Jesse said worriedly. "We can't let him get away with it!"

"Yeah!" Axel looked worried as well. "Who knows what will happen?"

Olivia shivered. "Nothing good, I bet."

"Close enough," Ivor's voice said from somewhere near them and they saw him appear at the stairs to the secret room. "But you won't be able to stop me!"

Ivor managed to summon an Iron Golem before disappearing from their sights, which was quick to start attacking them. Yelling and screaming erupted from them as they tried to avoid it and escaped from the secret room. Well, most of them.

Lukas was still kind of…stuck in the room. Darting into a chest to avoid being caught by the Iron Golem and praying it didn't catch him, he tried to be as still and quiet as possible. He wasn't sure how long it was, but there were places on him that were starting to cramp and it was getting to the point where he was about to just burst out of the chest.

"Lukas? Lukas, are you there?"

Lukas gaped to himself. Jesse had…Jesse had come back for him!

* * *

Jesse had been pretty upset to find out about the Wither ingredients, but that feeling had temporarily escaped her when the Iron Golem appeared and attacked. However, in the safety of being outside of that secret room and away from it, she was back to worrying and being upset, only to realize that Lukas wasn't with them.

"Wait! Lukas isn't here," Jesse noted anxiously.

"He must still be back there," Olivia echoed her worry.

"But we've got to warn Gabriel about what Ivor's up to," Axel cut in.

Jesse thought about it and made up her mind, handing them Reuben. "You guys warn Gabriel. I'm going to go back down there and get Lukas myself."

"Are you sure?" Axel asked, sounded uncertain himself.

"I am," Jesse said and then gave them a brief grin before she ran back towards the stairs that would lead her back down to the secret room.

She tried to be as stealthy as possible, especially when she saw the Iron Golem and tried to avoid catching its attention. She called out to Lukas, waiting for a reply. He popped out of a treasure chest and put a finger to his mouth and she nodded. But then she spotted a potion near her and grabbed it, aiming near the Iron Golem and throwing the potion at the wall. It distracted the golem successfully, and Lukas quickly jumped out of the chest and headed towards her direction. As soon as he reached her side, the two of them ran back up the stairs and got out of there.

"Um, thanks for coming back for me," Lukas gave her a small smile.

"Of course. What are friends for?" Jesse said with a smile back, unable to help it. Before Lukas could reply, his cheeks tinted red, Jesse pointed to where her friends were, attempting to talk to Gabriel and explain what's going on. "Let's get to them. Looks like they're not having any luck."

"Why are they doing charades?" Lukas asked in confusion.

Jesse wanted to face palm. She got they wanted to be subtle and not outright say it, and especially cause a panic, but still!

Reaching them, she went to go in front of the group, catching Gabriel's attention.

"Sorry for them," she said in a rush, looking up at Gabriel pleadingly. "But there's a man here that's threatening to create a Wither! You have to help us stop him!"

Gabriel's eyes widened as panic spread out behind her. "A Wither?" he asked in shock.

"Yes! It's true and I will succeed," Ivor made his entrance then, sneering at everyone. "I will reveal the truth to you all!" He gave some kind of meaningful look to Gabriel.

A Wither appeared and everyone screamed, running out of the hall and leaving a small group behind to stay behind and face Ivor, who pointed at a strange block (that matched the strange pattern on the wall from before) attached to the Wither.

"Don't worry," Ivor said smoothly, his lips curling even more. "I have control of this Wither with this Command Block. I can defeat it easily! Now, retreat, creature!"

But it refused to listen to him, no matter how many times Ivor yelled at it.

"I-I have this under control!" Ivor said, and threw a potion at the Wither. It didn't work though and Ivor shook his head in disbelief. "It…it didn't work…It didn't work!"

Everything went wrong. Instead, the Wither consumed the Command Block into its body and grew into a monstrous size, gaining three heads with sharp teeth and basically terrifying Jesse as it became some sort of Wither Storm. She wasn't the only one though. She could tell her friends were too.

Cowardly, Ivor left them behind and Jesse glared at the spot where he'd been.

"Quickly!" Gabriel shouted to them. "We must get to my temple. We will be able to find safety there!"

They all started to follow him, and luckily managed to make it to his temple without any permanent mishaps, though there had been several close calls), and with Ivor appearing again and heading there as well and which grated Jesse's nerves. She was relieved to have found Petra running to catch up with the group midway, having worried about the other girl and not knowing where she'd been up to now.

"There's a nether portal," Axel said in relief, once inside Gabriel's temple.

"We can get out of here from there," Lukas was relieved as well.

"Jesse, please take this," Gabriel got her attention and handed her some kind of amulet. "I can't defeat that thing on my own. Please protect this and use it to help the others."

"The others? You- you mean Soren, Magnus, and Ellegard?" Jesse gave him a tentative look.

"Soren has been missing for years," he told her softly. "But Magnus and Ellegard are still around and can be found."

Jesse nodded jerkily. "I…I promise! I'll find them, Gabriel. Don't worry."

"The portal's not working," she heard Axel exclaim. "We need to light it up!"

She gave Gabriel one last look before heading over to the portal. Jesse helped light it up and had Olivia and Axel go in first with Reuben. Just then, the Wither Storm caught up to them, attacking them with its tentacles and managed to direct some sort of beam onto Gabriel and Petra.

"Petra! Gabriel!" Jesse screamed, scared to find those two being pulled up into the Wither Storm. She looked back to see Lukas still there, but shocked still and just staring in fear at the Wither Storm and their friends being pulled away. "Lukas!"

But he looked at her, frozen in fear.

She darted to the closest one, finding it was Gabriel, and pulling on his leg, dragging him back down and away from the beam of light. Barely hearing his breathless thanks, she ran over to Petra and attempted to do the same, only to be knocked back into the nether portal with Lukas by one of the Wither Storm's tentacles.

Her last thought before she went through was the worry of whether Gabriel and Petra were okay and would make it through the portal too.

Started 3/3/16 – Completed 3/11/16


	4. And So It Starts...

Jesse's eyes struggled to open, but she made herself pry them apart so she could reassess her surroundings.

"Jesse, you okay?"

She groaned and moved off the person she'd landed on, catching a glimpse of Axel and Olivia looking at her in worry. Glancing at where she'd been, she saw Lukas slowly sitting up, grunting at the effort.

"Wha…what happened?"

"You and Lukas practically flew through the portal," Olivia explained anxiously. "You were out for a bit and we tried to get you guys to wake up, and it took a few seconds. What happened to you two?"

Jesse remembered what happened and looked hard at Lukas, who looked down and was biting his lip. She sighed to herself. It wasn't his fault. People get scared. It was only natural, and Lukas reacted the way any normal person would.

"Gabriel and Petra got caught by the Witherstorm. It was pulling them up with its light beams, but I managed to get Gabriel down before heading to Petra. I…I couldn't get to her fast enough," Jesse's voice faltered, and she hated recalling that moment. She'd been so slow.

"And you," Axel looked at Lukas accusingly. "Where were you? Why weren't you by Jesse's side?"

Lukas's cornflower blue eyes widened and he took a few steps back. "I-I froze. I got scared –"

"Scared? So you just stood there like a coward while Jesse –"

"Axel, come on," Jesse cut in tiredly, giving Axel a pleading look. "It's not his fault. Everyone gets scared."

Axel quieted but kept giving accusing looks towards Lukas that made the other boy look down. Still, Lukas managed to give Jesse a grateful look and a small smile, which Jesse answered with a nod. She was just more worried about figuring out what to do now and how to get back to their dimension.

Just then the portal gave a shake and they looked at it anxiously. It gave another shake before someone tumbled through it. The Witherstorm's tentacles followed through, before grabbing onto the portal's entrance and then collapsing it and disappearing.

Jesse only had a moment of hope before it was dashed as she realized just exactly who it was that had tumbled through the portal.

"Ivor!" Olivia yelled, sounding just as angry as the anger that was boiling up in Jesse.

"Oh, you all made it," he sneered at them. "I saw your little friend earlier. She was running towards the Witherstorm! Stupidity or bravery, who knows, but I don't envy her position right now –"

Jesse saw red and stormed over, punching Ivor in the face and he fell back. "You're a coward! And Petra is a hero –more than you ever will be!"

He flinched for some reason, but Jesse didn't care. How dare this jerk go and insult Petra (even if it was just implied)?

Ivor glowered at them all from his place on the ground, slowly getting up.

"Ha! It was all your fault! If you little brats hadn't interfered, then everything would have gone according to plan and that thing wouldn't have escaped my control."

Disgusted, Jesse looked away from him. Of course he couldn't see anything passed himself.

"Whatever," Jesse grumbled. "We need to figure out a way out of here."

"This place is full of mine carts," Ivor suddenly said. "The Order of the Stone once created and used to navigate this place with a system of mine carts."

"How can we trust you or what you're saying?" Lukas gave him a narrowed-eyed look.

"You fools have more things to worry about than myself anyway," Ivor answered instead, sounding ominous. "See you around."

He took out a potion and drank it, disappearing from their sight. Looking around, they found no sign of Ivor. But, as Jesse saw it coming into view, she choked back a scream and instead warned the others.

"It's a Ghast, guys!"

They took out what weapons they had, with Jesse scooping Reuben up and carrying him as she ran with the others. They found some of those mine carts Ivor mentioned and leaped into one each. The mine carts started moving, going down the rails and ending up separating the group.

"Oh great! We're lost and the others aren't with us! Can this get any worse?" Jesse screamed.

She just _had_ to say that, didn't she?

"OINK!"

Reuben made her pay attention as all of a sudden, three Ghasts appeared and attacked her and Reuben. She fended them off and killed them, before hectically continuing the mine cart ride and shockingly finding herself joining the others again at a turn and her mine cart connecting with everyone else's. They traded looks.

"Thank goodness everyone's alright," Jesse sighed, looking over everyone.

"That was crazy!" Axel shook his head.

Soon enough, the mine carts began slowing down before stopping in front of another portal. They got out of the mine cart and headed to the portal, before stopping and looking at each other.

"We don't know where this will lead us to," Olivia said warningly.

"It's still a way out of here," Lukas pointed out.

Jesse bit her lip. "We can't just stay here. We'll have to risk it and go through the portal. Even if that Witherstorm is waiting for us out there."

"Um, I-I'll go first. Yeah, I'll go," Axel said, standing in front of the portal.

He hesitated a few more times, before Jesse went to go next to him and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. She gave him a reassuring grin.

"I got this, Axel. Let me go," she said and Axel nodded, though he hid his disappointment and shame. Ah, he was no better than Lukas…

Jesse took a deep breath before going through the portal, finding herself on the other side and standing in ankle-deep water and a waterfall behind her. She looked around, seeing it was night and taking a second to herself to enjoy the sight and the peace. Then it was shattered as a Zombie appeared, coming towards her. She grimaced and took out her sword, lashing out at it and then killing it. A few moments later, the others began appearing and were with her finally.

"So what'd we miss?" Olivia asked.

"Not much," Jesse said dryly, her lips exasperatedly pulling up. "Anyway, we need to make camp for the night."

They traveled down from there and dried off a little, before they started to discuss what to build to stay in for the night.

"We don't have much time," Axel was arguing with Olivia. "We just need to make a quick and dirty hut to stay in."

"We need a little more protection than a hut!" Olivia scowled at Axel. "A treehouse would be much better!"

Jesse glanced back and forth between her two friends, and thought deeply about the protection. They did need something to stay in quickly, but it _was_ already night. A hut couldn't really protect them or give them ample opportunity to spot danger, and they were already in danger since it was nighttime. Might as well make something quick and easy in the trees, while they had the time to be safe enough away from mobs.

"A treehouse," Jesse decided. "We need to be able to spot danger before it spots us. Let's just…be quick about it. We don't need anything fancy."

So, quickly, all four of them began working hard and fast to create a crude but stable treehouse that they could stay in for the night. Jesse spotted the critical eye Lukas was giving the place, as well as the frown, but she didn't have time for his snobby building critiques. She was tired, dirty, and in a little pain after everything. Not to mention that stupid Witherstorm was still out there, and she was worried as heck about Gabriel and Petra. Where were they and what was happening…

"We'll be heading to this place Gabriel mentioned, right?" Olivia spoke up.

"Yeah," Jesse said tiredly. "As soon as the sun's up, we'll keep going."

"Hey! I've got something to cheer us up," Axel tried to lighten the mood. "Cookies!"

He handed one to Olivia, to Reuben, to then Jesse and kept the last one for himself. Just before Jesse was going to enthusiastically bite into hers, she noticed that Lukas was looking down in the corner and hesitated. She looked at her cookie before making a decision and heading over to Lukas.

"Here," she held out her cookie.

He looked up in surprise at her and then the cookie. "A-are you sure?"

She gave him a small smile. "Yeah, take it."

"But Jesse, that was for you –" Axel was protesting and Jesse looked at him and shook her head. He huffed, but didn't say anything else.

"Let's split it," Lukas suggested and Jesse was surprised by his suggestion. She broke it in half and handed half to him, and started to nibble on her own piece as she sat down by Lukas.

Jesse was feeling warm, partly because of Lukas' body warmth. It made her want to scoot closer, try to keep warmer in this cold night. She was feeling a little sleepy and nearly was dozing off, which made her miss a few seconds of what was happening around her. Her lack of attention made her miss the fact that sometime in her light half-doze, Axel and Lukas had gotten into an argument and she'd only been made aware when Lukas stood up angrily.

"You know, I don't know what your problem with me is, but maybe it's just best if I left."

That horrified Jesse and she stood up quickly.

"Everyone, just calm down!" She rubbed her face in frustration. "Can we just…the Witherstorm is out there, alright? We need to be together in this, guys. Lukas…please stay," she gave him a pleading look.

It took him aback and he fidgeted in place, a light dusting of the color pink rising to his cheeks for some reason. Jesse pushed further.

"You're staying with us," Jesse said firmly, and Lukas' head jerked into a nod.

"Why don't we all go to sleep?" Olivia suggested, breaking up the awkward silence. "You look like you were about ready to pass out right before all…that," she teased Jesse, awkwardly referencing the fight.

Jesse laughed in embarrassment. "I kind of actually was. Er, didn't almost notice what was going on until the end there," she ended up mumbling.

"Sleep sounds good," Axel said as well, giving Jesse a guilty look. "Let's just sleep it off and we'll be ready to go for the morning."

Thankful, Jesse nodded and everyone made themselves comfortable where they were and went to sleep for the night, or doing their best to with all that was happening around them and their thoughts bothering them all through the night.

* * *

Morning dawned bright and early, and Jesse not only felt refreshed but determined to do everything she could to help. She _would_ rise up.

"You're broken down and tired of living life on a merry-go-round, and you can't find the fighter. But I see it in you so we gonna walk it out~" Jesse sung aloud to herself, feeling herself grin widely.

Reuben nudged her leg with his nose and she grinned down at him.

"You have a pretty voice," Lukas complimented her as he went to walk by her side, with Axel and Olivia already up ahead of them.

Jesse gave him a grin as well. "Thanks, Lukas."

He bit his lip before giving her one of his smiles, a bit shy of it. "Thanks for keeping me around last night."

She blinked at him, before reaching out and grabbing hold of his hand and squeezing.

"What're friends for?" she said, surprising him. "I'm really glad you stayed."

Lukas' shy smile appeared again and Jesse beamed back at him, before they look forward and continued to walk. Though Jesse didn't pay it any mind, they had continued to hold hands right up to the point where they all finally made it to the temple Gabriel had told them about.

Lukas, however, didn't stop thinking about it the entire away, even if he didn't say a word about it.

He was also a bit afraid that if he did, she would let go.

Started 4/2/16 – Completed 4/3/16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, that was surprisingly heavy on Lukesse…I hadn't meant to, but oh well. It is not hard to do that, considering the episodes make it really easy to with the scenes the two are in. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter (which should have, but didn't finish episode 1)!


	5. Light the Fireworks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well damn. I didn't realize how behind I was on updating this story here.

The relief she (and the others) had at seeing and getting to the temple was short-lived. Axel managed to activate some kind of trap that sent flying (and very,  _very_  deadly) arrows at them, and they all had to race across the stone hallway to the other side without being maimed by one of them.

Finding a crafting table on the other side, she quickly made a fishing rod and used it to deactivate what she realized was a pressure plate that had started the damn trap. She also realized, too late, that she stupidly could have used her bow and an arrow to stop it as well.

"That was fun," Olivia said sarcastically, panting from the run.

"I'll say," Lukas muttered, also trying to catch his breath.

Jesse didn't chime in, figuring it was best to save her breath and just holding onto Reuben tightly. She waited for everyone and once everyone was ready, they all entered and found themselves in a library…eerily like the one from Endercon that belonged to Ivor.

"This is really creepy," Axel grumbled. "Why does Ivor have a library that looks just like this one?"

"Don't know," Jesse frowned as she let Reuben down. "But we should just keep our focus."

"Hey, guys! Take a look at this!" Lukas was next to a prominently displayed book that was on a table in the middle of the room. They came closer and he pulled it to him so he could read it aloud to everyone. But what he read…

"No way! Ivor was a member of the Order?" Olivia was shocked.

Everyone else was too, but it put a bad taste in Jesse's mouth. Along with it was a reluctant curiosity as to what had happened to him and why was he no longer with the Order, or even known to be part of them? What had happened that erased his existence with the famous group from history?

And, linking this library to his, she couldn't help feel a little sorry for him as she realized that he might miss them enough to replicate something of his time with them…

"I gotta say, Jesse –you actually punched a member –even a former member –of The Order of the Stone!" Olivia remembered, turning to Jesse with a big grin.

"Oh man! You're so right!" Axel said, agreeing and laughing. "That's so awesome."

Jesse turned red, but Lukas gently nudged her too. He gave her a small grin of his own as she turned to him.

"Saying it like that does sound really cool."

She cleared her throat in embarrassment. "Y-yeah. Um, let's just head up, huh?"

Still, she wondered why Gabriel hadn't told her about Ivor.

Before she could think more on that, they had gone upstairs to find a ruined part of the temple, though she could clearly see a large map covering an entire wall and which was opposite a pedestal. Thinking quickly, Jesse took out the amulet and looked at it and then the pedestal.

"I think I've got an idea, guys," she said and the others watched her as she went up to the pedestal and put the amulet on it.

Everyone became disappointed when nothing happened, and Jesse wished she'd know what to do next. Why hadn't it worked? Was she supposed to do something else? Or was she completely off track?

"We should look around," Lukas suggested and as everyone went to do so, he came closer to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "You've got this, Jesse. I believe in you," he whispered, and she felt herself become really happy and hopeful then.

"Thanks, Lukas," she smiled at him before deciding to look around herself.

It wasn't long until she came upon a set of switches in line, which Reuben oinked excitedly about. She flipped the first one and grinned widely when she saw that it lit up some lights next to the map. After messing around with the switches, she finally got the order right and all the lights lit up on either side of the map, which activated the amulet. The amulet directed colored lights towards the map, and she realized there were two distinct colors.

"Those might be Ellegard and Magnus!" Olivia said gleefully. "We should go after Ellegard. There's no way she can't invent something that'll stop that Witherstorm!"

"We should go after Magnus!" Axel disagreed. "We need to destroy the Witherstorm and who else is better than Magnus at destroying things? No one!"

Her two friends glared at each other and Jesse was torn. Looking at Lukas, who looked like he had no idea who to side with either, Jesse thought about the pros and cons of either choice.

But really, what could Ellegard come up with to stop that thing? And who knows how long that would take to come up with it, much less build it?

That Witherstorm had to be destroyed.

"I think we should go find Magnus," Jesse spoke up quietly. At Olivia's disappointed look, she hastened to explain. "Look, we don't know if Ellegard can come up with anything to destroy the Witherstorm and we don't know how long we have until it catches up. We still would have to build whatever invention it was too. At least Magnus might be able to slow it down or throw as much TNT at the thing that maybe something will happen, even if it's temporary. Even give Ellegard enough time, wherever she is, to find a way to stop it," she shrugged at them all.

"Yeah, I got you," Olivia sighed. "I guess be safe and hurry back?"

Jesse came over and hugged her, as did Axel (with the two of them reconciling over their small fight). As they worked it out, Jesse turned to Lukas who was hesitantly looking at her.

"I'll stay, help fortify the temple," Lukas told her. "Hopefully some survivors might turn up."

"I hope Petra does too," Jesse spoke aloud what hadn't been said. "Have Olivia help –she's great at building."

They smiled at each other before grasping each other's hands and shaking. Then it was Axel and Jesse with Reuben, and they were heading off to find Magnus.

* * *

The return to the Nether was as terrifying as the first time, especially with a Ghast quickly appearing and attacking them. She managed to kill it with her bow and arrow, before she and Axel got into a mine cart with Reuben making an awesome flip into it, and got out of there, heading straight to the portal.

"That was close!" Axel wiped his forehead with his hand once they were on the other side of the portal. "Good reflexes there, Jesse."

"Haha, thanks," Jesse cracked her neck, feeling exhausted after all that.

Still, at least they were really close to Boom Town now, where they would hopefully find Magnus.

"You think we'll find him?" Axel asked her curiously, walking slightly closer.

"I know so," she reassured him. But…"I don't know if he's willing to help us."

"Why not? He was part of The Order of the Stone! And who can say no to you?" he teased her, while she blushed.

"Oh, shush you," Jesse swatted at him, but he dodged her easily.

They'd only stepped one foot into Boom Town after that, before they'd had no choice but to be on guard as they were surrounded.

"Ohhh, we've got newcomers!" one of them ("Griefer," Axel muttered to her) mockingly called out.

"Let's blow them up!"

"Uh uh uh! We should at least pretend to be good hosts~"

Reuben huddled behind her, scared at these people.

"Why are you here?" another Griefer asked, tilting his head in curiosity.

"W-we're here to see Magnus," Jesse tried to confidently say. She brought out the amulet. "He needs to see this and talk to us!"

"Shiny! Can we have it?"

"Take it, take it!"

"We can use it to get to Magnus!"

Jesse and Axel shuffled closer together, and Jesse looked down at Reuben and gave him a look. Her pig nodded.

"SPLIT!"

And she and Axel ran off, with Reuben hot on her heels. The Griefers howled and screamed in delight as they ran, eager to chase them down.

Crazy! The whole lot of them were lunatics!

Clutching onto the amulet, she took sharp turns and went through all the twists she could to confuse them on her track, before she ended up being confronted by one.

"Hey, girlie, hand it over," he snickered, cornering her. "I'll even let you go, if you do."

Jesse scowled. "Yeah right. You'd sooner kill me. Now, Reuben!"

Reuben tackled the man from behind, having snuck around while Jesse was distracting him, and the man tumbled forward and right into Jesse's fist. Then they were rushing off again, and trying to avoid any more confrontations.

Within a few minutes, she found herself with a newer problem though, having dropped down into a hole that was hard to notice. When she was about to scream in frustration, she found herself being thrown against a wall, and a gloved hand covering her mouth as she inhaled the smell of smoke and gunpowder while a tall, muscled body pressed up against hers. She 'eeped' in her head, having been unable to do so aloud.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, doll," a rough voice spoke, and as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, she recognized Magnus the Rogue being the one who'd kept her quiet. He grinned roguishly at her, black mask not obscuring his slate gray eyes but framing them perfectly. "Not if you don't want to catch those Griefers' attention."

She shook her head slowly and he backed away. He made a motion for her to follow him, and after some time doing so while worrying about Axel, they ended up in a larger space that had tons of TNT lying around and a little more lighting.

"So, doll…can I catch your name?"

Her face flushing red, Jesse eyed him warily. "I'm Jesse. I came here with my friend Axel, and my pig Reuben," who was hilariously sniffing around Magnus' feet and looking up at him suspiciously.

"Yeah, cute pig," he muttered, eying Reuben back. "What're you here for?"

"I need your help," she rushed out to say. "There's a Witherstorm out there that's destroying everything and killing everyone. If we don't find a way to stop it, there won't be much of a world left!"

Magnus stopped toeing Reuben curiously, instead facing her with a raised eyebrow.

"You're kidding, right?" he drawled.

"No!" she shouted in frustration. "Just please! Someone take me seriously for once! I'm trying my best here!"

Magnus held up his hands, both of his eyebrows raised now.

"Okay, doll! Take it easy," he walked towards her. "But it's not like I can exactly get the hell outta here, if you know what I mean."

"What? Why not?" Jesse was confused.

He waved towards the ceiling above them. "You don't remember all those Griefers? See –I'm King of Boom Town. They all want to kill me and become the new King. I can't just leave here that easily."

"Can't you just make one of them be the new ruler?" Jesse asked desperately.

He shook his head, running a gloved hand over his bald head. "No can do. Title's got to be earned to them, or else they won't see it as legit."

Jesse closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. She felt his hands land on her shoulders, and she opened her eyes to find him grinning wildly.

"Wanna be Queen of my Boom Town?"

Huh?

Sputtering, she knew she probably took that the wrong way, but her mind might have short-circuited. Plus, Magnus seemed to like invading her personal space a lot, and was kind of really touchy feely…

"See, what if we do something like this?"

* * *

Jesse may not be sure of the plan, but it was what they had. Plus, she was just eager to get out of there and hopefully have Magnus coming with them.

The plan went out of the window when she saw the Griefers with Axel, who was bloodied up and his face covered in bruises.

"Axel!" she screamed and the Griefers howled.

"Back again, girlie?" the first female Griefer from before shrieked. "And you brought Magnus!"

"You let him go right now!" Jesse's voice went shrill and she felt herself tensing, even with Magnus laying a hand on her shoulder to try to calm her.

"And what're you gonna do?" one of them taunted.

"I'll take you all on," she growled angrily, narrowing her eyes at them.

She didn't even give them fair warning as she snatched a TNT stick from her pack and lit it up, throwing it at them. They scrambled away, and Axel used that time and distraction to knock away the Griefers around him and escape from their group.

Jesse might have stolen more than a few TNT sticks from Magnus' lair earlier…

Which she put to good use, lighting them up and throwing them at Griefers one after the other. They want to play crazy, she can play crazy!

Thankfully, Axel managed to find his way to her side, and behind her was Magnus gleefully joining in on the chaos and returning fire, throwing his own TNT at the other Griefers and covering her back.

"Doll, I like your brand of crazy!" Magnus shouted.

"Thanks! I think…" Jesse muttered that last part.

She missed the Griefer above, who tossed an explosive down at her, but she was tackled out of the way by Magnus, and they rolled on the ground together.

He was chuckling loudly as they stopped, though they had ended up with him on top of her and Magnus not looking to get up any time soon. "Oh man, this is great. You know, doll, I like girls with a bit of fight in them. Let's beat these shits and get out of here, and stop that Witherstorm of yours, huh?!"

"Sounds good," Jesse croaked out, wondering if she pushed at him if he'd get the hint. "I just want to make sure I don't get my head blown off first!"

He stood up finally and pulled her up, and they were getting ready to be on either defense or offense again, when the Witherstorm appeared and began causing destruction.

"What…what the fucking hell is that?" Magnus stared in horror, his body stilling as his jaw went slack in disbelief.

"That's the Witherstorm," Jesse said grimly.

Looks like they didn't have to worry so much about the Griefers anymore.

Started 4/10/16 – Completed 4/11/16


	6. Too Much Heat Blisters

The run back to the portal was pretty hectic, but Magnus was nothing if not used to wild and frenzied moments. His life was filled with those.

Glancing to his side, he had to briefly grin, even with that monstrous Witherstorm at his back. The girl he met was entertaining, someone that had actually gotten him to get out of his hole in the ground for the first time in years. Yeah, he left it to get himself food and drink. But for the most part, Magnus had kept to himself.

But a fiery girl like her wasn't someone he could ignore. And oh yeah, she was fiery! But she wasn't always combative either, which he could definitely welcome. She had a softer edge to her that actually drew him in, and he certainly found himself enjoying being around her.

"Over here!" her friend shouted, though Magnus noted that the kid seemed to be awfully worshipful of him. He also seemed rather attached to the girl, which made Magnus frown.

"We're almost there," Jesse said breathlessly, and he had to appreciate the flush on her face from exertion. She glanced at him curiously. "Something up, Magnus?"

"Nah," he said dismissively, looking forward again. "Just found something I like."

He missed her blinking in confusion, not sure what he was talking about. He wasn't going to enlighten her anyhow. Still, once they made it through the portal and were in the Nether, they took a minute to rest and catch their breath.

"Man, I hate being in here," Axel, he remembered the boy's name was, grumbled.

"Well, at least this time we've got Magnus the Rogue here with us to get through," Jesse said cheerfully, tossing him an adorable grin.

He chuckled lowly, giving her one of his usual roguish grins and a wink. "Not a prob, doll. Anything for a pretty girl like you."

Jesse looked taken back, not sure how to take his flirtations, while Axel looked surprised too –just in an unhappy way. Ah, kid's got a crush on her huh.

"Let's get through here and head back to the temple," Axel said shortly, almost stomping away from them.

Magnus rolled his eyes, but made sure to keep close to Jesse. Despite the Witherstorm, which had indeed terrified him at the sight of it, he was still enjoying himself. It had been awhile since he'd been in an "adventure", and longer still since he had adrenaline coursing through his veins and the rush he got from blowing things up. Bonus that it all came with (and was because of) the pretty dame next to him.

"So how'd you get caught up in all this?" he asked, wondering about that.

Jesse looked to him. "Well…it started at Endercon…"

And she told him about the building competition, meeting Gabriel, meeting Ivor and the slimy git's trick trade, and then how Ivor eventually confronted Gabriel at a hall and creating that damnable Witherstorm.

He really wanted to punch Ivor's guts out. If he had a problem with the rest of them, he could confront them on the level, instead of doing something stupid and dangerous like this! Magnus was always up for doing dangerous things and pulling risky stunts, but this was just idiocy beyond Magnus' usual idiocy.

"We're here!" Axel called out, and Magnus was disappointed when Jesse walked further up and separated from him.

* * *

They went through the portal and ended up on the other side. From there, they continued to keep going and spent the entire time walking in tired silence, until they finally made it to the temple. The sun was already setting and soon it would be night.

"Who's there?" Lukas' voice called out.

Jesse broke out into a grin. "It's Jesse! We're back!"

Lukas' head peeked up over the wall, grinning back at her.

"Hey, Jesse! It's good to see you! And you found Magnus!"

"Yeah, we did!"

"Come on in, you guys won't believe who turned up," Lukas said, peaking her interest.

The three of them went to the entrance, where Lukas met them. When he threw the door opened, it revealed (of all people!) Gabriel, who looked rather sickly and worn down, but that didn't matter much to Jesse since she was just ecstatic to see him there at all.

"Is that you, Gabriel? Man, you've seen better days," Magnus said from behind her, and he came forward happily to embrace his friend.

Gabriel laughed weakly. "Good to see you as well, old friend."

When they let go, Gabriel turned and spotted her, his tired grin becoming a soft smile for Jesse.

"Ah, I am especially glad to see you, Jesse. And that you are well."

She couldn't help herself, throwing herself forward and embracing him as well.

"I'm really glad you're okay and here, Gabriel. I was really worried."

"There, there," he murmured, patting her back. "I can only thank you for coming back for me and helping me."

Embarrassed, Jesse moved back and laughed sheepishly. "Sorry, I was just really upset that I had to leave you and…Petra behind. Did you…did you see her? Was there anymore survivors?"

Gabriel shook his head solemnly. "I'm sorry, but there was just so much destruction. I could barely make it here myself."

They started walking away from there, back up into the ruins at the top. However, there were voices on the top, which confused her since (counting everyone), the only person up there should've been Olivia –

To Jesse's surprise, she saw Olivia with Ellegard.

"What is she doing here?!" Jesse was shocked to hear Magnus explode angrily beside her and she turned to look at him, caught off guard by the furious expression on his face and the tension lining his body. And then that furious expression was turned on her, which made Jesse upset and flinching back. "Did you know about this?"

"No," Jesse frowned. "Just-just calm down! I'll figure this out and find out about this, okay?"

She began walking towards the two other females. One part of her was upset at Olivia for going after Ellegard after everything had been said and done, and for leaving Lukas behind and to be on his own. He wasn't…she wasn't totally sure he could defend himself well on his own. But she also felt relieved because the Order of the Stone was all practically together and reunited, and maybe they could all band together and figure out a way to defeat the Witherstorm.

"Jesse! You're back!" Olivia greeted her gleefully. "Look who I found!"

Before Jesse could say a word, Magnus was behind her and she could feel him glaring at Ellegard, who likewise was glaring back coolly.

"If it isn't ol' Ellie," Magnus growled.

Ellegard narrowed her eyes, elegantly lifting her head in disdain. "I can't believe  _you're_ here. With your rocks for brains, I highly doubt you'd be of any help."

Jesse was flabbergasted. She couldn't believe what she was seeing or understand why they were arguing like this. In fact, the two seemed to get louder the more they exchanged words. Jesse closed her eyes, feeling a headache come on.

"Shut up!"

That caught their attention and the two finally shut up, looking at her bewildered.

"Didn't think you had it in you, doll," Magnus teased a little, which made her feel lighten up slightly.

However, the remark (unknown to the two) caused different reactions around the group. Axel was fuming quietly, upset that his idol seemed to be flirting with the girl he liked, while Lukas was inwardly feeling unhappy and not knowing why. Ellegard merely raised an eyebrow, as Olivia looked at the two in surprise. Gabriel, though, seemed to have frozen still, and was looking between the two with a frown.

"Just come on," Jesse looked to Magnus and Ellegard, getting back to the point. "We have bigger problems, so put aside what differences you two have and let's just get together to beat this thing. We don't have time to be fighting like this."

They looked chastised, more so when Gabriel chimed in.

"Jesse is right," Gabriel gave them admonishing looks. "I couldn't defeat it on my own. It is too powerful. We have to figure something out.  _Together_."

Magnus grimaced. "Man, yeah. That thing…" he shuddered. "It was horrible. Beyond nightmarish."

Ellegard looked at him skeptically. "Not so sure you can blow it up this time?"

Magnus shook his head, which Jesse could tell surprised the famous engineer. "I don't think I'd have enough explosives –no, I wouldn't be able to destroy it with all the explosives in the world."

Ellegard bit her lip. "Soren had a Super TNT, didn't he?'

Magnus grunted. "Not that Super TNT crap again."

"No, no," Gabriel cut in thoughtfully. "She could be right. If Soren was able to create it, it could possibly be enough to destroy the Witherstorm."

"But where is he?" Olivia interrupted.

"Only one way to find out," Jesse said and held up the amulet.

She went over to the pedestal and put it back in, and then went to work the switches. Once it was on, they all waited to see if Soren's light would appear onto the map. It suddenly did, but another light flickered on as well.

"Oh no," Jesse said. "That's not good."

"What's wrong?" Lukas asked.

"That's Ivor!"

"And he's heading towards Soren," Ellegard glared at the map. "We can't let him get to Soren first. We have to leave immediately!"

"Woah, have you seen the outside?" Magnus snorted. "It's dark! We'll be surrounded in no time. And I don't know about you, but the rest of us are exhausted."

"And by the time we get there, Ivor probably has reached Soren! I'm surprised you're not worried about that Witherstorm catching up either, what with how worried you were," she sneered.

Magnus did pause at that, but he shook his head. "We need a bit of time. It's dark out already and we're all exhausted. Look around you, Ellie! Besides, you weren't with us when we faced off against Griefers and then ran away from that Witherstorm. We're certainly tired, Gabriel looks ready to collapse, and that blond kid looks exhausted from bulking up the defenses on this place. We're going to be in no shape fighting off mobs, much less the Witherstorm."

"Gabriel, what do you think?" Ellegard turned to him.

Gabriel looked to Jesse though. "I'm not the leader of this group. I believe the decision should lie with Jesse."

Jesse became nervous as all attention turned onto her, and she didn't know what to say or do. But she looked around at everyone and noticed the states they were, and remembered what Magnus had said. Axel was still recovering from the beating he'd taken from the Griefers, as well as all the running and fighting they had to do. Gabriel really did look sickly and it made her extremely worried about his health. Then there was Lukas, who had she looked closer earlier (she felt so guilty about this), she would have noticed he had bags under his eyes and he was slouching a lot. Had he slept any since she had left? Or had he stayed up every night, trying to fortify the temple and keep a lookout for hostiles or survivors, and with his work doubled with Olivia having gone off on her own?

"We'll stay the night," Jesse decided. "Everyone looks weighed down and could use the rest."

"Of course you choose his side," Ellegard huffed, turning on her heel and leaving the group, preparing for bed.

Jesse frowned, but felt down about upsetting Ellegard. She hadn't wanted to specifically go against her. It was just that the group really did look like they needed the time to recuperate, and this was as good a time as any.

She split ways from everyone, getting ready for the night as well, with everyone doing the same. Still, she had trouble getting to sleep. She was tired, but found she couldn't go to sleep at all. Sighing to herself, she got up from her makeshift bed and looked around, noticing everyone else sound asleep. Getting up, she headed upstairs and was going to just take some time up there to gather her thoughts, when she saw that she wasn't alone.

Magnus was already up there, sitting on a large, ragged piece of the ceiling and staring up at the stars.

"Oh, sorry," she said quickly. "I didn't mean to intrude."

"Nah, you ain't intrudin' on nothin'," Magnus murmured, sounding slightly sleepy. "Enjoyin' the sight of the sky, is all."

Curious, she moved closer and ended up taking a seat next to him when he patted the spot.

"You like the stars?" she asked.

Magnus chuckled, becoming a little more awake. "Not really. I just been holed up for a long time. Haven't really seen the sky for so long, much less stars. Plus, Boom Town's plagued with smoke –gotta have to be, with all the explosions and smoke, you know?"

"Mmhm," she nodded slowly, crossing her legs and looking up at the stars as well.

"Say, Jesse?"

"Yeah?" she answered distractedly, still looking up.

"Thanks for getting me outta there."

Surprised, she turned to him in question.

"I like being King of Boom Town. I  _loved_  it. But it got a little lonely through the years."

Jesse, having no idea what to say to that, just gave him a small smile and he grinned back at her before returning his gaze to the stars.

Started 4/18/16 – Completed 4/18/16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick Points:
> 
> 1\. Olivia and Ellegard: I admit I got annoyed with Olivia when it showed in the games she'd left to get Ellegard –one, she left Lukas behind on his own and two, she kind of basically shrugged off and went behind our backs kind of and went off on her own (especially after a group decision). I dunno, it rubbed me the wrong way XD But I admit there were times I didn't like Ellegard too –she's totally condescending, and I feel bad for Olivia because Ellegard kind of picks on her, even though Olivia really looks up to her. If you choose the opposite, Magnus isn't that bad with Axel. Heck, Ellegard is still horrible to Olivia, if you choose either paths!
> 
> 2\. Magnus or Ellegard: I was kind of torn choosing either paths before, because Ellegard's path leaves more time to do things and stuff, and later on Jesse in the games gets to have a moment with Magnus if they end up staying the night…but I ended up with that scene with Magnus catching Jesse and them talking alone in his "man cave", and deciding I could still have them stay the night and have something along that scene anyway, lol.


	7. Down With the Sickness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To Mylenrawr, who is incredibly invested in this story I was losing faith in. Thank you so much!

He looked at his hand, watching the rivulets of blood drop down it. It hurt. It really hurt and there was actual blood on his hand. It had been a long time since he'd seen blood.

He glanced at the broken body in front of him and then went back to staring at his hand.

It hurt and there was no respawning in this forsaken world. Where was he?

"Hey, you okay?" he heard someone yell at him and he looked to his right and saw a group of young teenagers looking worse for wear.

Hadrian was not okay. He didn't know what world he'd been dropped into and where there was death (actual death) and destruction all around him. His world had been perfect. The Games were entertaining, and  _everyone_  loved them –he had been practically living as perfect a life for himself as he thought it could be.

This world was bleak and people actually died.

He twitched involuntarily and his arm (his  _broken_ arm) was in even more pain.

"Where the hell am I?!" he snarled aloud, and if he could, he would find the person responsible for this and make them feel this insufferable pain.

No, he was  _not_  okay and if those blasted kids coming near him ask him that one more time –

"There's a huge group of us," the brown-haired kid told him, finally arriving right in front of him. He pointed to a group farther back. "The rest of us heard about some sort of sanctuary that we can head to. Do you want to come with us?"

For a moment, Hadrian wanted to snap out a no, that he didn't need  _help_. But then he realized he was in an unknown world, with a broken arm and a clear disadvantage. He needed to exploit whatever opportunity came up for him. He was good at that. He could manipulate things to his advantage, turn his disadvantages  _into_  advantages…

He forced a smile onto his lips and gestured to his broken arm. "Yes, that sounds wonderful. Thank you for running across me. I hope someone from your group or someone at this sanctuary can help me with this?"

"Ah, we don't think we have anyone, but we can double check," the boy said. Useless brat. "Hopefully that place we're heading to will have someone though!"

Hadrian kept that smile on his face, trying not to clench his jaw. "Yes, let's hope so."

Patience. He could do with some patience.

* * *

" _You left me," the redhead accused her._

_Jesse shook her head. "No, no! I wanted to get you too. I tried to run after you, I swear!"_

" _You left me! And now I'm dead!"_

Jesse woke up, sitting up straight. She bit her lip and covered her eyes with her palms, trying to erase the image of an angry Petra blaming her. Now that adrenaline had stopped and there was time to take a breather, she felt everything piling up on her like it hadn't before. The biggest thing being the fact that she couldn't save Petra.

The face of the other girl as she was being taken away and Jesse failing to hold onto her haunted her. If only she had been  _faster_ , had a firmer grip, something! Instead, her strength had failed her and she hadn't been able to save Petra, and who knows what had happened to her.

She didn't even want to think about Ivor's words. Every time she did, a mix of anger and shame went through her.

Swallowing heavily, she looked around and noticed it was dark. Counting everyone, she noticed that someone was missing. Furrowing her eyebrows, she realized Gabriel wasn't there. Getting up quietly, more so since Reuben was beside her and fast asleep, she looked around the room they had all gathered in and didn't see him. She decided maybe he could've gone to one of the outside areas. Going through a hole, she was outside and staring at starry skies. She almost forgot she was looking for Gabriel at the sight of them, until her gazing was interrupted.

"Jesse? What are you doing up?"

She whirled around and found Gabriel himself sitting on one of the piles of stones. He looked worse than before, haggard in appearance to accompany his harsh breathing. There were dark circles under his eyes and it was clear that he hadn't been able to sleep that night, if he had been able to long before finding his way to the temple.

"Couldn't sleep. Had a…nightmare," she said truthfully, finding it was easy to do so with him. "You?"

"Same, you could say," he smiled grimly at her. He patted a stone block beside him. "Come, sit."

She carefully made her way over to him and sat down, before finding her eyes drawn up to the skies again.

"I was wondering about something, Gabriel," she started off softly. "When we came here, we found the library. It looked exactly like the one at Endercon that belonged to Ivor. And…there was a book in there. It talked about the Order of the Stone. And that Ivor was one of you guys once."

Gabriel sighed heavily. "The truth is that a long time ago, Ivor really had been part of the group. We all did get along and became good friends, family even. But one day there was a huge argument between us, most of it stemming from Ivor's disagreements with a decision the group had made, and he left us. Since then, you could say there's just been bad blood that's never been cleared."

That made Jesse winced. "Sorry for asking and being nosy."

He shook his head. "It feels better for me to be able to finally talk a bit about it. When Ivor left, the Order sort of drifted apart until we found that we just splintered and had gone on to do our own thing. I still miss them, all of them, even Ivor."

"Well, two of them are here right now and we're going after a third one tomorrow morning," Jesse said gently. "Maybe, um, even if he's a jerk and needs to answer for all this, you'll be able to see Ivor too."

Gabriel patted her leg before going back to wearily leaning his elbows on his knees and hunching over. Jesse examined him closely and felt guilt attack her again. If only she'd been faster to grab hold of Gabriel too…Maybe he wouldn't look so sick and tired…

She blinked and a thought slithered into her head about what could be ailing Gabriel, but she couldn't voice it aloud. She was afraid if she did, it would be real and there wouldn't be able to be any denial.

"Go back to sleep, Jesse. We'll have a long journey ahead of us," Gabriel told her. "You'll need the rest."

"Only if you do too," Jesse said stubbornly, and Gabriel laughed lightly and nodded.

Together, they got up and headed back in. Jesse really hoped the two of them would be able to get some more rest in. She silently agreed that it was probably going to be a long journey looking for Soren.

* * *

The moment dawn broke on the horizon, they were already awake and quickly getting ready to go. They all agreed that they would make their way out of the fortress and keep together in a loose formation, while being wary and on the lookout.

"Bright and sunny, ain't it?" Axel said, trying to lighten up the group.

"Sure is, kid," Magnus spoke up too, thinking it would be a good idea to have the group not think about the bad stuff.

"No sign of this Witherstorm," Ellegard said stiffly.

"Which is a good thing," Gabriel said firmly, not looking at anyone as he focused on gathering things for the journey. "Having it attack us so early on would just be a detriment we don't need to deal with. Hopefully, our luck will last out until we reach where Soren should be."

"Uh, guys."

"Someone just woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," Magnus said snidely.

"Guys?"

Ellegard bristled. "You've got something to say, Magnus?"

"Maybe I do –"

"GUYS!" Lukas yelled and everyone's attention moved to him. He pointed outside, to where the hole in the stone wall was. "You guys hear that? I think that's people!"

For a moment, everyone just stared at him. Jesse personally wasn't sure she heard him right. Then she listened and heard it too. Voices that were getting louder as they sounded like they were getting closer to them.

The group rushed through the hole to look over the temple's walls, seeing another group of worn out people, some in various states of being injured.

"Help…" Jesse breathed. "They…they need help!"

She turned on autopilot, trying to think on her feet. "Axel, Lukas, clear out the area to make space and try to make things more accessible. Reuben, help them out as best you can, okay buddy? Ellegard, do you have any medical experience?" Because hers was limited, Axel had none, Olivia had less than her, and Jesse knew nothing about Lukas, Gabriel, or Magnus to count on them for it.

Ellegard nodded sharply. "I'm proficient enough in it and can do what I can for them."

"Magnus, Gabriel, you two come with me and help those that need help coming in here. I'll look them over, try to triage," Jesse said quickly.

The three of them hurried down and managed to meet the new group outside of the temple. Jesse was surprised to see Aiden and the rest of the Ocelots leading the group. The guard with the fear of chicken, and even the lady with the slime was there. Next to Aiden seemed to be an aggravated-looking older man, with thin glasses and white hair, dressed in a torn up purple suit.

"Right, I'll get started on this side and try to look for those severely injured and try to get those I can stabilized," Jesse focused on her task. "Gabriel to the right, Magnus to the left."

She headed forward, meeting up with Aiden. She glanced curiously at the man next to Aiden, but otherwise kept her attention on the brunet.

"You're, um, okay?" she asked him awkwardly. After all, the last time they met, they weren't really on good terms. Still, a lot of things had happened since then.

"Sore," Aiden croaked out, slumping slightly. He gestured over at Maya. "She's got a broken rib, I think, and Gill hit his head. He's been okay and mostly awake the entire time until we got here, so we're pretty sure he doesn't have a concussion."

Jesse bit her lip. "Anyone else injured?"

"More than a handful," Gill spoke up, face looking drawn and exhausted. "I don't think anyone's really bad though."

Jesse nodded. "I'm going to check through the group. Head up to the top of the temple. That's where we're all gathered."

The three Ocelots nodded and began the walk, and she watched them for a few seconds. She was about to go to task, when she noticed that one man still standing there and watching her in scrutiny.

"Hello," Jesse greeted hesitantly. "Can I help you with something? Are you injured?"

"Just scratches and bruises," he said in a dismissive tone. "The name's Hadrian. You are?" he asked, almost imperiously.

"Jesse Lucasta," she said cautiously.

"Hm…Pure light, huh?" If it was possible, his scrutiny became more intense. Then he smiled, but for some reason it made Jesse want to run. That confused her. "Pleasure to meet you, Jessica. I'll be heading up now."

He walked around her and her confusion could have drowned her in that moment.

* * *

After Jesse was done making splints, looking over people, and helping them up to the top floor, she went to Ellegard to see what she needed her and the rest of the group to do. Soon enough, she was seeing Gabriel cleaning people, disinfecting when he needed to, though he looked like he was straining as well. Olivia, Axel and Lukas were running around trying to get bandages, water, and what not, while Magnus was helping to hold down whoever as Ellegard worked on them.

She was about to go to her own designated task, when at the moment, there was a man with an arm that looked dead and flopping around, and apparently needed an amputation. Jesse couldn't look away and watched the operation being done in horror, seeing blood splurting out. The urge to throw up was practically overwhelming her.

"I don't think I've ever seen that," she heard someone say and saw it was Hadrian with a look of horrified fascination. "Where I'm from, you flash red and poof! You're gone, your inventory is left behind, and then you reappear in a respawn zone."

Jesse gave him a confused look, finding it was way too easy to get confused with this guy. Respawn zone? Flashing red?  _Poof_?

"There's no flashing red here," she said slowly. "You just…die. Your body is just there. And your inventory? Stays with you, unless someone decides to pilfer it from your body."

Hadrian grimaced and recoiled. "That's…barbaric. When you lose, you lose, and to the victor goes the spoils! Taking the inventory from a body? It sounds…appalling."

Reuben sidled up to her and Jesse scooped him up, cuddling him for comfort. From the corner of her eye, she saw the other give her a bewildered look she ignored.

"This place is abnormal."

She gave him a sideways look. He was probably quite right about that.

But then again, Jesse on some days could get quite cynical when she remembered how bleak the world could be.

Started 4/7/18 – Completed 4/8/18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick Points:
> 
> 1\. Hadrian: Yes, it's that Hadrian and yes, he's come in early. Also, I thinking Hugh Laurie? Crank and sarcastic, lol. (coughHousecough) Anyway, I didn't forget about that broken arm ;D
> 
> 2\. Change Ups: Yeah, I'm thinking and going with probably a lot more change ups and differences from the original Story Mode than I had planned. Expect the unexpected?


	8. Full On

It took a couple of hours, which was still a feat considering how many needed to be tended to, but eventually everyone that needed to be taken cared of was taken cared of. Jesse wasn't sure how they managed to do it, but did it the group had. Now the group was gathered together in a smaller chamber, holding a quiet meeting about their next move.

"So that was crazy, huh?" Magnus said, joking weakly. There was still blood splattered all across his front.

"There's still a great deal of them that need to be watched over," Ellegard grimaced. "I hate to say it, but…"

"We can't all go out to find Soren, like we originally planned," Gabriel concluded and said it aloud for them all.

Jesse froze up. So they were going to split up? But how were they going to do that? Wouldn't it weaken their group or something? Jesse, Axel and Olivia weren't big on experience in fighting or traveling much. She had no idea bout Lukas, but she doubted he'd be able to handle all this either, considering (though she didn't actually want to say it like this) his tendency to be fearful.

Or would they be the ones left behind while the Order of the Stone went off to find their old comrades, confronting one and fighting the other?

Jesse was more surer of that plan, though part of her wished she wouldn't be left behind and was a little let down at having to be not much help in the end. Still, they were all older and more experienced than Jesse and the others, and this was more personal for them. And maybe…maybe Petra would pop up there, having found her way to that sanctuary and Jesse could apologize and beg for forgiveness…

"It's probably best that I stay behind."

Wait, what?

Jesse couldn't be sure she heard what she did. Because if she did, then she'd just heard Ellegard say she'd stay behind.

"I'm the only one here with any medical experience," Ellegard continued, explaining herself. "And also, while the group of you head out to find Soren, if that doesn't work out I can be here working on a plan B and hopefully come up with something to defeat the Witherstorm."

"It's smart," Gabriel said hesitantly.

"Yeah," Magnus barely refrained from grimacing. "Ellie's right. These people still need looking after and we need a backup if Soren doesn't pan out."

But then they were looking to Jesse and she started having a minor panic attack. Why were they looking at her? They were the experienced adults, right? What would she know?

A glance at her friends though, calmed her down enough to take a deep breath and look back at the four members of the Order of the Stone. Even if she still felt her nerves vibrating under her skin, she had to at least fake it enough to make it through this.

"Alright. We'll split up then. But we'll have to split up according to skillset. I would have preferred having as much of the Order of the Stone as possible to talk to Soren and face up against Ivor, but I understand that Ellegard would be more useful here. So can I suggest having Olivia working with you? She's fantastic with redstone and the two of you can really bounce ideas off of each other, I bet. Plus, Axel, Magnus, and Gabriel should be part of the group heading out. Lukas, do you have a preference?" she looked at the blond questioningly.

"I'll head out with you guys," Lukas said firmly.

"We can help out here," someone interrupted and they turned and saw the rest of the Ocelots hovering by the entrance. Maya, the one who had spoken, looked determinedly at Jesse. Aiden was looking at the ground, kind of even keeping to the back of the trio, while Gill just looked plain tired as he tried to stay on his feet.

"After a little rest you can," Jesse frowned, looking them over. Even if they'd been bullying her and her friends before… "Just take care of yourselves first and then help with the people here," she said, giving them a small smile as a peace offering. Gill and Maya tentatively smiled back, but Aiden's eyes kept on the ground. But then he looked up and gave her a tiny smile, so maybe there really was a truce there.

"If I may interrupt," another voice cut in and Hadrian walked in smoothly, his smile just as smooth. "I can be of help. Allow me to accompany you all out."

"Dude, we're probably good," Axel said good-naturedly, gesturing at the group. He grinned at the older man. "Seriously, don't strain yourself."

Jesse was watching Hadrian, so she saw the lazy and almost patronizing smile spreading on his face slowly.

"Yeah? Good to know."

And before her eyes, this stranger built an obsidian and stone staircase from where he stood a moment before them on even floor, all the way up to several feet above them. He stood at the top, arms crossed as he peered down below, looking down on them. She hadn't been able to see the speed at which he built it, he'd been so fast.

"I want him on my team," Magnus raised his hand, snickering.

Jesse blinked, starting to gape. "Me too," she mumbled in awe.

She and her friends were totally outmatched and surrounded by these amazing people. Maybe they weren't doomed with the Witherstorm after all…

* * *

They were putting together last-minute stuff before they were going to finally leave. Jesse had her things together and was about to head to the front of the temple to wait for the others, when she caught sight of Ellegard. Still intimidated by the other (and also just as impressed), Jesse squared herself and headed over to the older female. She had something to say to the other and she wasn't going to chicken out.

"E-Ellegard!" she called out, drawing the redstone engineer's attention.

Ellegard stopped, looking curiously at her. Jesse caught up to her and mentally pinched herself.

"Um, the truth is that I wanted to say…about before? You know, when we were debating about staying here or leaving, and –"

"It's okay," Ellegard interrupted her. "In hindsight, it was a good call you made. Not only did we end up well rested, especially for those of us who looked horrible and probably felt that way too, but in the end, we also ended up being here for those people who stumbled across us. If we'd already left, they would still have a place to stay, but no one to really help them."

Jesse sighed in relief. "Good. I just didn't want you to think I was trying to snub you or anything. It wasn't…it wasn't personal, you know?"

"I do," she smiled gently at Jesse.

The younger girl fidgeted but pushed on. "Um, thanks for taking on Olivia. She's my friend, you see, and I get how she can be. But um, she really likes you. She thinks  _the world of you_. You're her idol really. So please…please be nicer to her? You don't have be super nice or anything, just kind of…um…" Jesse didn't know how to phrase what she wanted without offending Ellegard and almost was just about to go ahead and blurt it out, when the other nodded and finished for her.

"I can be condescending," Ellegard acknowledged. "Don't tell Magnus, but I know he's right about that. And I  _was_  rather so towards your friend. It's a bad habit, but I will try to not be so, uh,  _mean_  towards Olivia."

Jesse smiled widely at her. "Thank you so much! She really adores you, so this is like a dream come true for her."

They talked a little more and Ellegard even imparted a little advice in how to handle Magnus ("Punch him. The harder the better."). Afterwards, she split up and Jesse went to go find the others, Most of the group was starting to gather up at the entrance to the temple, and it looked like they were just missing Magnus and Hadrian. But soon enough, those two came as well and they began to walk out of there. Gill was by the entrance, ready to close it behind them, and as she passed him she gave him a thankful smile that he awkwardly returned. Maybe after all this they could end up friends.

"The sun's dying," Gabriel noted quietly, looking up once they were outside and had walked some ways away already.

Axel shivered. "Monsters will be coming soon."

Hadrian scoffed. "They can be easily handled. I highly doubt that those things will be a match for us."

"Let them come," Magnus laughed. "I wouldn't mind a fight."

She ignored all of them, looking ahead. "We can set up camp after we've made a little more progress."

"A lookout would be good," Gabriel suggested, coming closer to her.

"How should we set up the watch?" Jesse asked, getting into the planning with him. Thinking about it, this was kind of cool –she was planning with  _the_ Gabriel the Warrior. She should soak in as much advice and knowledge from him as she could.

"I can take up first watch," Gabriel said. "We can switch off; older and then younger members of the group."

"I can take the next shift after Gabriel," Lukas volunteered.

"So maybe Magnus after Lukas," Gabriel said thoughtfully.

"Or have the kid go before me," Magnus pointed his thumb at Axel. "That leaves the younger ones more time to sleep before and after their shifts, and their inexperience are probably better handled in the middle rounds of shifts. If they go first, they'll probably end up falling asleep. The same if they end up with the last rounds."

"So I guess I should be after Axel?" Jesse asked.

"Maybe," Magnus shrugged. "Before or after me. You'll be the last of the middle rounds, so it probably won't make too much difference on your turn. You can take the shift after me and get a little more sleep in, if you want."

"Then I'll be last either way," Hadrian said with his quickly becoming familiar drawl. He smiled widely, though there was an odd curl to it. "Fine by me."

"You're pretty handy and quick," Gabriel noted. "Therefore, you being last actually makes a lot of sense. If any incoming mobs are near, you'll be quick to dispatch of them which will be enough time to alert the rest of us."

"Well then, what about  _that_ incoming mob?" Hadrian pointed out dryly and Jesse turned to face the direction he was pointing to.

Her breath caught in her throat and she tried not to scream.

From a distance away, though quickly coming towards them, there was a large group of mob creatures. Jesse shakily went to grab her stone sword, but was stopped by a hand on hers, stopping her from grabbing her weapon. She looked to see the culprit, seeing Magnus there with a roguish grin and wink towards her.

"Come on now, doll," Magnus moved his hand away. "Why don't you let us show off a bit, and show you why we're such legends?"

Jesse felt her heart skip a beat and didn't understand why it did.

Hadrian yawned. "Too slow," he said just as he shot forward with his own glitzy obsidian sword that she gaped at.

Magnus drew her attention again, giving her another wink. "See you in a bit, doll~"

He hollered and whooped as he ran towards the mob creatures too, whipping out his own sword just as he tossed a stick of dynamite to the side of him.

Hearing a step being taken, she saw Gabriel next to her, his own sword out. He turned to her and gave a gentle smile, moving to grasp her shoulder and squeeze reassuringly.

"This will not take long," he promised in a soft voice.

And then he too ran forward, and Jesse stared after the three men taking out the large assemble of mob creatures on their own.

"I kind of want popcorn to watch this," Axel said from her side, moving to be next to her.

"Me too," Lukas said from her other side, watching in awe.

"Best. Action movie. Ever."

Jesse agreed with that.

Started 4/30/18 – Completed 5/4/18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, action heroes, huh? Lol. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Next one, I'm hoping and determined to finally reach Soren somehow. Hopefully…Please remember to review! I greatly appreciate getting all the feedback and hearing from everyone!


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